Olga's Gallery

Caroline of Brunswick

(1466-1536)

Caroline
Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick, wife of George IV (1768-1821) - Queen Consort,
wife of King George IV, though he refused
to recognize her as such, and she died only a few days after his coronation.
George, then the Prince of Wales, had been forced into marrying her by
his father, George III, who refused to pay off the Princeís debts unless
he agreed to a socially acceptable marriage.

Caroline gave birth, in 1796, to a daughter -- Princess Charlotte Augusta
-- George IVís only legitimate issue.

Perhaps because their relationship started off under such circumstances
or perhaps because they really were completely incompatible in character,
George despised Caroline, finding fault with everything about her. He refused
to live with her, and carried on numerous affairs, some of them quite high-profile,
while co-habitating with his common-law wife Mary Fitzherbert, even going
so far as to write Caroline out of his will. In the face of such treatment,
Caroline felt no more obligation to stay faithful to her husband than he
did to her, and was involved in several alleged flings of her own.

Despite this and the wild gossip surrounding both their private lives,
Caroline was always more popular than George in the eyes of the British
public, being viewed as a grievously wronged wife. After George became
Prince Regent in 1811 and she found herself increasingly ostracized by
British high society, she used her position to aid Georgeís Whig opponents,
casting her in an even better light in the eyes of the people.

The staunch support she enjoyed infuriated the Prince Regent, who was
never a beloved ruler. For her part, Caroline used her popularity to leverage
money from him and Parliament. By 1814, the situation had deteriorated
so much that George was willing to spend any money to see her gone and
Caroline left for Europe after securing a handsome allowance. Between the
years 1814 and 1820, she lived, for the most part, in Italy, where she
took as lover one Bartolomeo Pergami. Though there was talk of divorce
between her and the Prince Regent, the negotiations were never conclusive.

In 1820, upon hearing of the death of King George III, Caroline expressed
her intent to be crowned Queen Consort and left for England. The newly-acceded
George IV, at the same time, resolved to prevent this from happening by
any means necessary.

Carolineís arrival in England in 1820 was a scandalous affair. George
had successfully persuaded the Church of England to refuse to recognize
her, and, at his prompting, the House of Lords had conducted an investigation
concluding that Caroline had been in an extramarital affair with Pergami
-- hardly a secret -- and proposed a bill to strip her of her title and
her marriage. However, she still had the support of the House of Commons,
making it impossible to pass the bill, and the public. Matters came to
a head when Caroline attempted to force her way into Westminster Abbey
for the coronation service, and had to be stopped by the guards at bayonet-point.
She fell ill immediately upon getting back to her apartments, and died
some three weeks later, on August 7, 1821. Although it was speculated at
the time that she had been poisoned, it is more likely that Caroline had
a nervous break-down and fatally over-medicated herself in her distress.